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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion won’t become widely available until later this week, but following prerelease weekends over the last few days, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in price.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub attracted significant interest. A 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, it includes the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the strongest among the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage in its design comes from an additional effect: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

Initially, the card could be purchased below $30. Following the early events, though, the going rate has shot up above $45 and one seller offering priced at sixty dollars. The reason for premium pricing on this adorable card? Mainly due to the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

Upon entering the battlefield, Badgermole Cub transforms a terrain card so it becomes a creature that has earthbending. And with that second ability, while it remains on the board, each affected land generates double mana — in addition to mana-producing creatures on your side that generate mana.

An ideal partner for synergy would be the classic Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature that produces one green mana. However many alternative mana dorks available. Another option costs a bit more with stats 1/3 for two mana in comparison.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, plus the cub, you can easily get a very big and very expensive monster on the battlefield within a few turns. Momentum builds exponentially by maintaining dominance from that point.

When adding a secondary color with this approach, options such as these mana-fixing creatures are excellent picks that can make all five colors. Another card, this powerful dryad allows you to put another terrain every round plus makes your entire land base into every basic land type. It's also worth trying such as the enchantment A Realm Reborn, which for six mana grants all of your permanents the power to produce a mana of any type — even each creature in play.

This card could be too strong in terms of accelerating your resources, however how do you win with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer already is this legendary creature. Its stats are set by how many lands you have, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures Forests as well as their other types. In other words, every single creature in play may produce double green by tapping.

Another creature is a costly, large threat that thrives with many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, its stats are equal to your land total).

Nissa works perfectly as a staple. Her passive ability causes every Forest generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, that means all earthbend forests generate three green mana.) Her main ability acts as an early earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on terrain, which is great but it isn't redundant with the cub's ability. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, makes each land you control unbreakable and lets you put onto the battlefield your remaining Forests in the deck. Once you trigger this power, it’s pretty much the game ends.

This card is nearly mandatory for all green Avatar deck built around Earthbending. By including Gruul colors, there’s Bumi Unleashed. It possesses earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt to an opponent, all land creatures are ready again and can attack again. Although this card has become a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be among the top, possibly the desired card in the Avatar set.